Jack and Poppy came home early today. So early, that when they walked in the kitchen mum pulled out her phone to see what time it was. She said, “My! You two are home quick.”
Jack grinned and said that was right, because he and Poppy had no time to lose. They were in a hurry. Mum looked at them with a small smile and slowly said, “And you’ve got to hurry up that hill of yours?” Poppy said, “Yes, mum. We can’t stop for anything. “
Mum chuckled. She said, “Got time for something that’s cooking in the oven?” Poppy laughed and have her a big. “Later, Mum,” she said. “No time now!” Mum said, “You really are in a hurry! Well, off you go. Be back at a reasonable time.” Jack said they were experts at ‘reasonable time’ and bundled out the door with Poppy right behind. Through the gate they ran, along the footpath and up onto the hill.
This time they went a slightly different way. Instead of going up and up they went more, like … around the hill. They’d been this way a few times recently, but Poppy said she knew it best so she went first. Along the slope. Though soft, wavy grass. With birds calling and chirping high above in the blue sky.
Finally they reached a big flat rock, poking out of some bushes. Jack and Poppy slowed right down and went quiet. They bent low to the ground and carefully, carefully crept through the bushes, around the rock, to a little quiet secret place. And gently sat down.
They were on the edge of a bank, a drop, looking down into a gully. Jack whispered, “Shh.” And Poppy nodded.
UThey peered down. Looking and looking into the gully. Nothing stirred. Still, they kept looking. They didn’t move, not even a muscle. Down below everything was still, only warm sunshine on an empty patch of grass and bushes. After a while Jack said in his quiet voice, “Have they gone?” Poppy whispered, “Hope not. We saw them here the other day.”
And then something down there jerked! A bunch of leaves began to jiggle and joggle. A small black nose poked out of a bush. It stopped. Then two eyes. And then a beautiful cat slithered into the sunshine!
Poppy squeezed Jack’s elbow. He beamed and grinned.
Then suddenly a little bundle of fur and whiskers tumbled out from under the bush and spilled around the mother cat. Three little kittens!
Poppy whispered. “So beautiful. Our feline family.” Jack thought they were a cat family, but anyway he nodded. He and Poppy had come a few times now to watch these kittens and each time the little cat family was so fun. Jack settled down to secretly enjoy them again.
The kittens were hilarious. They flopped and flipped about on the grass. The ginger and white one pushed the other two. They jumped up and pounced on him. Rolling and polling and crashing and bashing and jumping and bumping. The three of them dived and shoved and pretended to hit each other with their little feet. Their mother just gave a big slow yawn, stretched out long and started licking her paws.
Jack and Poppy lay next to the big warm rock and watched. High above in the blue sky birds were singing and calling. Lumpy clouds drifted along. Then something up there caught Jack’s eye. One of the birds, a big one, had stopped singing and it seemed to be looking down; at the kittens. But just then Poppy gave an excited little wiggle so Jack looked back down below. The kittens were still jumping and somersaulting in a tangle of fur and feet, but the mother cat had stopped licking. She was still. Like rock. And looking up. Jack and Poppy quickly rolled over and looked up too.
Poppy gasped. Jack went stiff. Now the big bird was gliding in a circle. Not singing. Looking down. It’s yellow claws opened and shut. It circled lower. Now Jack could see the bird’s break; long and thin and sharp. Down on the grass the kittens hadn’t noticed. They were still tossing and turning and enjoying themselves.
But not the mother cat. She was looking. Staring at the big bird. Staring hard. She began to slowly get up.
But it was too late! The bird dived down!
Down, down it came, falling like a stone. Straight for the little bundle of kittens. Swooping and cutting through the air. Rocketing and shrieking. Claws out in front, ready to grab. Jack jumped up! “Stop!” He waved his arms. Poppy was on her feet too. She yelled, “Run!”
But the kittens hadn’t seen! And still the big bird came on. Down, down. Closer. Nearer. Jack could see its eyes glinting and savage.
The kittens! The kittens! And then they looked up! They got such a fright they didn’t know what to do. But their mother did. She sprang to her feet. She stood on her back legs and waved her front paws and made a loud “hissss!” at the birds. Poppy pounded down the slope towards the kittens. They sprang up and frantically leapt into the bushes. So did the mother. Gone!
The big bird came zooming in but the ground was empty. It had missed! The kittens had escaped. Jack yelled, “They’re safe!”
He and Poppy were in the bottom of the gully now. They hopped about and made happy noises and hugged each other. The kittens and the cat were safe. Jack looked up and the big bird was winding back into the sky in long slow circles. He said, “It’s gone.” And Poppy nodded. She said, “That was close, Jack.”
There was no sign of the cat or her kittens. Jack said they were probably on the other side of the hill by now. Poppy nodded and helped Jack clamber back up to their rock. They gave one last look into the sky. The big bird was now just a tiny speck in the blue.
They turned for home and went slowly along the hillside through the wavy grass. Jack said he hoped the kittens would come back again. He wanted to watch them more. But Poppy thought they’d probably got such a fright they’d stay away. For a long time.
That’s what she said to mum when they came through the garden gate and into the kitchen. Mum nodded. Jack said Poppy had been so brave rushing down the slope as the big bird swooped onto the kittens. “A second later and the bird would’ve got them,” he said.
Mum hugged Poppy and called her The Rescuer. Then she had a thought. “Remember that Bible story we read the other night? When Jesus was in a boat and rescued his disciples from that storm?” Jack nodded. “That’s what Poppy did, mum”
But Poppy shrugged. She said, “Whatever” and asked if mum might just possibly have something that would give them a bit of energy after all that excitement. Mum smiled and said, “Are you thinking of freshly made muffins?” And she reached for a big tin with something inside warm and clunky and heavy. Poppy gave the biggest smile.